Why Me?
by Tsukiko104598Daiki
Summary: Join Daiki [my OC], a ninja from the Naruto Universe that finds himself traveling another world in attempt to help 4 kids with their ultimate goal-stopping the 100-year War. While Dai doesn't want to help-he just wants to get home, he can't help but wonder about what he can do to help. Rated T for violence and death.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Desert

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><p>Thin eyebrows scrunched down, the boy panting slightly at the heat and dull ache of his body as he shifted uncomfortably in the sand. 'Wait…Sand? Did that missing-nin use some sort of Ninjutsu or Kinjutsu to transport me to <em>Kaze no Kuni<em>?' Rolling onto his stomach, Daiki reluctantly opened his brown eyes before sitting up. Raising his right arm to shield his face as his head titled upwards, happily taking note of the slight breeze that soon disappeared. Sighing, the 17 year-old climbed to his feet, blinking at the seemingly empty desert. 'Where the hell in _Kaze no Kuni_ am I? Where's my team? Kaede better not start acting like a dobe once he notices I'm not in a mile radius.'

Stretching out his limbs, Dai narrowed his eyes as he searched for any signs of chakra. He sigh a sigh worthy of the Nara Clan; he decided to randomly walk in whatever direction he was facing. True, he wasn't feeling _that_ deprived of chakra, 'I best save chakra for ambush. I highly doubt shinobi from Sunagakure would appreciate a leaf ninja in their borders without permission or even a note.' Snorting, Daiki absent-mindedly took notice of everything the desert had to offer-nothing but sand and a rare cactus maybe a slight breeze from time to time.

After walking for 15 minutes with nothing, not even signs of civilization, Dai stopped, taking in his surroundings once more. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head, trying to locate the nearest source of chakra. While he only found small amounts of it, belonging to desert animals. Sighing once more, he continued walking, another tiny breeze snagging the one braid of white hair. After what seemed like an Uzumaki's lifetime, but in reality an hour [with 2 rests of two sips of water and a bite of ration bar], he were toying with the idea of speeding up with chakra or summoning a toad to help him. 'Better not bother one of the toads, especially when I don't have something in return for their assistance other than thanks and a few ration bars.' Bending his knees slightly, he felt the necessary chakra needed to make the leap pump into his legs before he jumped up. But rather than jumping maybe a foot or 2 off the ground, he reached 15 feet, getting a good look at the area. As expected, miles and miles of sand in every direction the eye could see. But, to the trained ninja's eye, Dai saw a couple of buildings nestled together hidden by the dunes. His lips tugged upwards in a rare smirk as he landed gracefully down, only to bolt forwards.

In what would take normal, non-chakra trained ninjas a 35 minute jog, he accomplice in 15, with a boost to his speed with chakra. Daiki quickly crouched down 4 dunes away, and pulled up the legs of his black pants to his knees, fingers undoing the bandages wrapped around his calves before removing them out of his completely. He then rewrapped the bandages around his legs, tucking it into his shinobi-sandals, before rolling down the legs of his pants which came down about 4 inches from his ankles. He then readjusted the kunai pouch that was strapped to his right thigh before switching to his left to readjust the pouch of shuriken that was strapped to his brown leather belt. He then undid the straps that held the chain and sickle on his left to his belt before securing them back on. At last, he tugged at the strap that held the scroll containing his canteen of water, the 3 ration bars that were left, his katana, several more kunai and shuriken, and a book with a pencil to document things, maps, and a drawing of Konoha. As he reached approached the small town, his brown gaze flickered between men that could easily be described as rejects for mummies and a _something_ the size of a tall man. 'Even though that…mammal is interesting, thought it could prove useful to document it.' After confirming it wasn't some sort of jutsu with a hand seal and a tiny cry of release, he shrugged his shoulders. With a sigh, he slid the scroll down, undoing a seal that held it close. He pushed chakra into the kanji that read 'book' a small poof of smoke, which caught attention of some 'mummy-men' and a second later a book with a pencil had appeared over the kanji. Sitting down from his crouched position, the ninja drew a drawing of the 6-legged creature, not daring to get close in case it was aggressive with strangers, [which is was when it shook its massive horned head at a couple of mummy-men], as he jotted down notes about its legs, tail, horns, and what appeared to be tattoo-like markings of arrows. Once he got back up, he stepped aside from a dark spot, noticing one of the toothless mummy-men had spit on his lip, and he could quickly tell what happened. Shrugging his shoulders, he entered the gates, Dai's attention was then ripped away to what seemed to be a giant block of ragged ice, 'How is it not showing signs of rapid melting? It should…Is it special ice produced by a Kekkei Genkai?' Once again he tried to dispel the seemingly non-existent genjutsu cast over him before fishing out a kunai. Then using the blade, he then carved off a small piece of it. Once that was off, he tugged off his scroll and quickly sealed it so he could find out later what kept it from melting, providing the sealing jutsu kept it from melting. After it was once more strapped to his back, between his shoulder blades, Dai made a bee-line to the nearest building that seemed to be opened, again avoiding the bandage-wearing men that littered the place.

Frowning as several people rudely stared at him the moment he walked into the store, taking notice to that they stared at his odd weapon of choice, the scroll on his back, hair, and his attire…again.

Snorting, he walked past a group of people, side-stepping out of the way of a man only for the ice bowl of juice to get spilled on someone else. Turning around, he duly noted what seemed to be a monk, if the shaved head, yellow robes with a short orange cape that came to his elbows, an orange belt, brown boots where yellow pants tucked into, and dull bumble-bee yellow armguards/bands meant anything. 'Though what kind of monk has a blue tattoo on his head? It looks similar to the _thing's _tattoo markingsoutside though.' "Don't worry, I clean up easily." Chirped the monk, and from his height, and voice, Dai easily could tell it was a boy, and he seemed to be around the age he was when he graduated the Academy. Sitting down on an stool, a black eyebrow raised in surprise at the hand seal the boy used to perform a wind release that somehow blew the wind off his clothes. Losing interest when the man that spilt the juice cried about living relics, his gaze traveled to the monk's traveling companions. First was a boy, a bit younger than him and was tanner than him. He was dressed in all blue, with a light colored top, sky-blue belt, the top tucked under the belt that came to his knees. He also had navy blue pants/tights that disappeared into his brown boots, bandages wrapped around his wrists, fingerless gloves with a ring on his middle finger, and a boomerang on his back. The sides of his head looked shaved, and the brown hair the guy did have was pulled into a sort of wolf-tail. He then watched the girl, who sported an odd hairstyle, her brown hair in loops connecting to what he guessed was a bun on the back of her neck, and she also seemed to have the rest of her hair braided. She wore a light blue dress, the ends of it lined with white fur materials. There was a white belt design around her waist; she also seemed to wear dark navy blue pants/tights that tucked into ankle boots that were also lined with white fur material. She had sky-blue sleeves, wore dark navy blue armguards/bands and a necklace. On the necklace, there seem to be a sort of ornament that looked like crashing waves of water. 'Siblings, maybe cousins, are my best guest.' He then took notice of the last female in the monk's group, a girl dressed in a green dress, with a lighter colored yellow-green cloth and a dark green belt. She wore gloves the same color as her belt, had no shoes only dark green cloth around her ankles. Her hair was held in a giant bun held together by a yellow and green band. He couldn't see her face since her head was titled down and was also hidden by the ice bowl of juice she was drinking. Shrugging, his gaze switched to the man, who wore white tanned robes, a backpack, another bag; several pouches, bandages wrapped around his wrists, brown sandal boots, cloth wrapped around his head and a large straw hat. Shrugging his shoulders he turned away, setting his chin upon the palm of one of his hands as Dai closed his brown eyes.

His lips tugged upwards in a rare smile, his eyes slightly opening at the mention of maps. Sliding off his stool, he walked towards the 5, tapping the shoulder of the man after blue-boy exclaimed there was no fire nation on the map he was examining. 'Does he mean Fire Country? Or is he so uneducated he was taught that the name was Fire Nation. Or he's a dobe like Kaede.' The man turned around, positively giggling once he noticed his appearance. "What are you wearing? Where are you from? I would guess Water Tribe from your tanned skin, but you have brown eyes, which is uncommon for them… And what is the metal plate on the cloth around your neck with the symbol? And did you come into contact with a spirit? I never heard of a boy with black and white hair? And what kind of weapon are you carrying?" Raising surprised eyebrows at the man's questions, Dai sighed before quickly answering them. "I'm wearing chainmail with a shirt over it and the sleeves have chainmail sewed on top. I'm from the Hidden Leaf; I rather not talk about my home though. The cloth is a hitate-ae, the symbol is a leaf symbolizing I'm from the Hidden Leaf. And no, I never came into contact with any sort of spirit, neither had my mother. It's not that uncommon for people in the Senju clan to have black, brown, white, or black hair that seems blue hair. My weapon is a chain and sickle." The questioner quickly whipped out his notebook and pencil, jotting down the questions and answers before finally asking the question Dai was waiting for. "So, what is it that you need?" Sending a small prayer of thanks to which god that helped him, "A map, I overheard you talking about how you have one?" he replied. "Wow, you made a lot of trips into the desert…" The girl in blue noted, taking the chance to talk now that the interrogation of the boy was over. "All in vain, I'm afraid. I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel, Wang Shi-Tong's Library." 'Earth Kingdom, never heard of that one. And what's this about libraries and lost civilizations. Just how far away I am from the lands I know since this map certainly isn't of Wind Country.' "You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's _library_?" Questioned the girl in green, her feet twitching as she sipped her juice. "This library is more valuable than gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge." At that, Dai's eyes glittered, a legendary library hidden in the desert that contains a vast collection of knowledge? 'If this is true…what kind of amazing things can I find? Hmm…' "And knowledge is priceless." Slightly tilting his head at the last statement, the book worm had to agree with that one-slightly. "Hmm…Sounds like good times." Commented the green girl, "Oh it is, it was built by the great knowledge spirit Wang Shi-Tong with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers." "Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistances, huh?" The boy in blue commented, who sounded rather pervy. The girl in blue then raised a hand to shove the boy's face, "I think he meant that they are actually foxes, Sokka." "You're both right; Wang Shi-Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all around the world and put them on display so man could better ourselves." The archeologist exclaimed, pulling out a drawing of a building. 'So…This entire lot is crazy…believing in spirits? A _knowledge_ spirit apparently built a great library. Who knows?' "If he has books from all over the world, do you think he has info on the fire nation?" Asked the newly dubbed, Sokka. 'All the information in the world won't help if you think that Fire Country is Fire Nation.' Dai thought with a sigh, deciding whether he should ask if he could tag along for the trip, if it was worth it. "A map maybe?" With that, Sokka's tan face and sparkling blue filled with joy at the thought of a map of the Fire Nation. 'Should I tell him I'm from the place? No, if he doesn't know about the Hidden Leaf, he won't learn about it from me.' Tuning out slurping noises, Dai focused back on the conversation, "I wouldn't know. But if such a place exists, it would be there." He stared with a poker face as Sokka held his chin before exclaiming, "Aang I do believe it's my turn. I want to spend my vacation at the….LIBRARY!" The guy practically shouted; his hand pointing to the ceiling in an over-dramatic way. Turning his head to stare as the green-dressed girl raised her hand, "Hey? What about me? When do I get to pick?" His attention flew back to Sokka who crossed his arms, closing his eyes before replying, "You gotta work here a little while longer before you qualify for vacation time." With that reply, the girl slammed her drink down onto the table, took up a pouty face, and looked away, which made her seem extremely childish. "Of course there is the matter of finding it. I have made several trips into the Se-Song desert and almost died each time, I'm afraid that desert is impossible to cross." Piped up the professor sadly, a look of frustration, sadness, and pity all mixed into one on his face. 'Why is Sokka making that face? I barely know him for a 2 minutes and I don't trust that look.' Dai thought to himself as said man raised an eyebrow, "Professor, how would you like to see our sky bison?" "A sky bison?! You actually have one?!" Shrugging off the feeling of being forgotten, Dai followed the 5 outside rather annoyed.

Outside, Dai noticed that they were walking towards the six-legged thing he documented, growling at the mummy-men before the Professor ran forwards. "Sand benders! Shoo! Away from the Sky Bison!" With movements Dai took as hostility, Dai eyed the men as they hopped upon what seemed like boats before some started to wave their arms, seeming to cause sand to raise and propel them away. "That's interesting Kekkei Genkai…" He mumbled under his breath, remembering text that some rare people from the Wind Country could control special sand or magnetism in the sand but only the 1-tailed bijuu's jinchurike could actually control normal sand. 'Maybe it's their clan ability special only to this desert region?' Noticing the group was preparing to leave, Dai rushed towards the monk, tapping his shoulders before bowing in a respectful matter of greeting since he didn't know his name. "Mind if I travel with you?" The kid suddenly broke into a large, shit-eating grin, his grey eyes twinkling, "Sure! I'm Aang!" "Senju, Daiki. But you can call me Dai." Nodding his head, Aang leapt up onto the Bison's head, Dai deciding to jump on top of the railing of the saddle before hopping in. This collected wide-eyed stares from the people in blue. "How did you do that jump? Not even Aang, an airbender can do that without airbending!" The girl squeaked in surprise, "Why are you here anyways!" Cried Sokka afterwards, pointing a finger at Dai. "Aang said I could come along, and I used chakra." He stated in a monotone voice, the girl in green, which he noticed, laying quite close to him, nodding. "I'm Toph, 11 years old by the way; the other girl is Katara, she's 12; and the boy's Sokka, age 14. Though I think you learnt his name when Katara got mad at him. The sky bison is Appa, and the flying lemur is Momo." The boy noticed the girl's unfocused white eyes that had a hint of green to them, "Senju, Daiki. Call me Dai if you wish to. Senju is just fine too. I'm 17 years old." Sitting on his knees, to say he was surprised and amused when the now dubbed Appa took off, though he didn't show it much, was an understatement.

Around, what he guessed was 2 hours later, he ignored Toph when she pointed at something, though to his amusement he chuckled slightly when Aang, Sokka, Katara, and the Professor realized it was nothing and remembered she was blind. "Hey, Dai, why didn't you even look at Toph when she did that mean prank?" The other boy in the group asked, prompting him to shrug as he continued to scan the desert dunes, noticing a glint of gold in the distance. "Because I noticed her eyes were white and unfocused, and just now I was proved correct; that she's blind. It was a rather amusing prank, Toph-chan." "Toph-Chan? Is that some kind of fancy honorific? Just call me Toph or Best Earth-Bender Out There!" Raising an eyebrow at her statement, he shrugged it off, 'Earth-bending? Is that another unheard Kekkei Genkai? But they way she said it, she made it sound more popular…' "There." He pointed out his hand, seeing the roof of something appearing out of the shadow of a dune, prompting Sokka to use his spying glass. "Hey! You're right! But how did you spot it?" The bison started to spiral down, curving around the high tower before landing gracefully for a beast of its stature.

"Forget it. It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in the painting looks enormous." Katara sighed, holding up the painting, "I think it's just buried. And that fox thinks this is the library too." Dai added, his hand pointing at a figure sliding down a dune, a scroll which glinted that caught the boy's eye earlier. "What kind of animal is that?" Sokka took a step forwards as he asked, watching the beast run towards the tower and up the wall. "It's a fox. It's actually related to cats more than dogs against popular belief." Dai commented a moment before the Professor, "I think that is one of the knowledge seekers." The group, Professor included turned to stare at him once more. "How did you know that, Dai? I never heard of foxes, much less that they're closely related to cats rather than dogs…" Aang commented, scratching his bald head as he walked towards the building. "If this is the library, this means it's completely buried." The Gaang stared up at the tower, recognizing it as the main one in the painting. "The library is buried! My life's ambition is full of sand! Well, time to start excavating." Cried the professor, rushing forwards, dropping to his knees, digging out a tiny shovel, and he began to dig. 'Idiots..' With a sigh, he shook his head, "Just because it's buried doesn't mean it's full of sand-""Actually that won't be necessary since the inside seems to be completely intact. And it seems to be _huge_." Dai began, got cut off as Toph slammed her fist into the bricks of the tower, her eyes closed as she interrupted him. "Sorry Dai, hehe." Toph began to giggle as she opened her eyes when she realized she cut off the older boy. 'Does this girl have a Kekkei Genkai that allows her to see other than with her eyes? Sonic? Scent? Noises? No, the stink of all of us plus the animals and our noise would drive her insane by now.' He thought, only breaking his thoughts to mumble a "No problem." "The fox entered through a window, I say we climb in there and give it a look." Glancing up, Dai stared at the window; ignoring Toph's exclaims of staying behind, he stared at Sokka as he threw up a rope connected to his boomerang so they could climb up. 'They can't use chakra? I need to pay more attention to Aang's air-bending jutsu…' He thought as the group climbed up, "Hey, Dai! Not coming? Or scared you'll fall down?" Sokka taunted, stopping when he realized that the boy wasn't behind or in front of him. Narrowing his eyes, said boy bent his knees, felt chakra pump into his legs before he leapt high into the air, his feet touching the wall before sticking. To the surprise of all there, [Toph seeing with earth-bending since she had her hand against the wall] Dai walked up and past all of them as if he been wall-walking since he could normally walk. He hopped onto the window ledge, and continued walking down the tower from the inside, drawing speechless questions and Professor was just vibrating from the idea of a person that could walk on walls. "How do you do that? What else can you walk on that others can't? Can you walk on liquid? Or is that not solid enough?" Tuning out the voices, Dai judged the distance before leaping down, pushing chakra beneath his feet to soften the land.

After Dai stopped gazing at all the owl décor, still ignoring Professor who used rather long words instead of simple ones. Tilting his head at the sound of rustling, he then, instead of running behind pillars, leapt over the side. Instead of plummeting, the boy's hand stretched out, snagging the last ledge of the bridge before darkness, dangling above it. Dai calmed down, his eyes narrowing so he can focus more intently on the sound before as a voice cut through the silence, "I know you're back there, and you too, the one hanging on the ledge. Get up here." This prompted a gasp from someone behind the pillars. Daiki sighed, stretching his other hand up, grasping another ledge before pulling himself effortlessly up and back onto the bridge with the others. He then turned around, brushing off imaginary dust before giving his full attention to a giant owl, the creature's feathers black as shadows. The spirit had a white, round face that reminded you of a heart, his dark brown beak almost black tiny against the whiteness, and its grey eyes twinkling with deadly knowledge. 'This is the knowledge spirit? I thought it was going to be the size of one of the summons, or maybe a bijuu...But it's still smarter than Kaede.

"Hello…" As Professor starting talking, he once again ignored the man's voice out, taking in the spirit's appearance as a hand sat on the hilt of his sickle. As the owl mentioned stuff heads, the archeologist shut up, prompting Dai to pay attention once more to the conversation. "Are you the spirit that brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked, "Indeed, I am Wang Si-Tong, he who knows 10,000 things." Taking a pause, the bird eyed everyone in the group, his gaze lingering on Dai the most which cause him to grip the weapon. "And you are obviously human, which by the way I do not permit in my study." 'Man. The bird that knows 10,000 things is also a racist. Nice.' "What do you have against humans?" A voice filled with innocence, obviously Aang, asked as he took a step forwards. A Humph noise escaped Wang Shi-Tong before he answered the question, "Humans only bother learning to get the edge on other humans. Like that fire bender that came to this place a few years ago looking to destroy his enemy." Another pause, the bird swung his face towards the nearest human's face, which was unfortunately Sokka's. "So…Who are you trying to destroy?" "W-What, n-no, n-no, we're not trying to destroy-"The boy began his sentence only to be cut off by Daiki, "We're trying to destroy the emptiness in our minds by filling it with knowledge. That is _what_ we wish to destroy. As such many other scholars do." "Yeah! Knowledge for knowledge's sake." The spirit eyed Sokka as he started to sweat, slightly buckling under pressure from Wang's intense stare. "Humph, the boy with the boomerang. If you're going to lie to an all knowing spirit being you should at least put some effort into it." In reply, boomerang guy made noises, pointing a finger at Dai, "But I'm not lying! I'm here with the avatar," with that the boy grabbed Aang, "he's the bridge between our worlds. He'll vouch for me." With that he bumped the monk in the back, prompting a sigh from the Senju member and an 'oww' from Aang. "Y…Yeah, I'll vouch. We'll not abuse the knowledge in your library good spirit." Taking a step back, Dai bowed low which the others copied. "Hmmm…Very well, I'll let you browse my vast collection, on one condition," Wang's deep voice echoed inside his head at the word condition. 'What's up with the stinking owl and his pauses? Not everyone has an Uzumaki's lifespan.' Dai thought irritably waiting for the spirit to begin talking, "To prove your worth as scholars you'll have to contribute worthwhile knowledge." Taking a couple steps back, the ninja crouched down, pulled off his scroll, and unsealed it before rolling it open. He then pushed chakra into the kanji of Leaf Painting, and with a poof that attracted everyone's attention. A painting appeared, and within it one could see a giant mountain with faces carved into it, and surrounding the mountain was a huge forest with a town nestled into the forest and underneath the monuments. Buildings of all shapes, sizes, and colors could be seen in the painting, with other mountains in the background. In the corner, there was the title of the painting, "The Village Hidden in The Leaves." Picking it up, the ninja took a step forwards, presenting it to the black-feathered being. "This is a painting of my home village, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, or Hidden Leaf. It's made by the Kurama Clan, a family of one of the best painters." Nodding its head in approval "A marvelous use of colors; the details are amazing, the claim holds truth." Then, a wing swiped over the painting, taking it with it causing the Senju to step back to his scroll. Crouching down once more, he rolled it back up and redone the seal before sliding it back on. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the professor drooling and staring hungrily at the blue colored scroll.

Watching with his poker face, Daiki eyed the tome that the professor donated, the water bending scroll from Katara, the wanted poster of Aang, and the knot of string from Sokka [the spirit had an incredible poker face too]. As Wang Shi-Tong commented on the water tribe boy's level intelligent, his body trembled from hidden laughter. At the words, "Enjoy the library." He dashed forwards, weaving around Sokka hearing the word, "trick" before he made it to the shelves of books.

Smiling as the knowledge seeker fox handed him tomes about the world's history, geography, bending, world culture, traditions, and flora. He then started to flip through the history and geography, where Dai made a sickening discovery. 'If every large continent is found according to this map, the Elemental Nations are either hidden by powerful jutsu. Or that scroll transported me out of my own world…I sound as crazy as these people…' Maintaining a calm face, he slid off his scroll, summoned a pencil, and wrote the kanji for history geography, culture, traditions, and flora. He then sealed the tomes in the categories they belonged to before sealing the scroll and sliding it back on. Once that was done, he ventured around, hearing the Gaang group. "I want to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising." Shrugging, he headed the other way, 'I don't want to be there when the owl finds him trying to dig up info on the Fire Nation.' After walking around for a few minutes, he decided to ask a fox for a water, earth, air, and fire bending scrolls. Once the seeker returned, he sat down and leaned comfortably against the bookshelf with his scroll besides him before sliding the water bending scroll open. 'It has good tastes. It's pretty illustrations, I wonder who painted them.' The ninja thought to himself as he eyed the body-movements the character performed to control the water. 'I wonder if I could do that with my water release…Maybe someone else from the village could learn this if I can't…' With that thought, he unsealed the scroll and pencil, jotted down fire, earth, water, and air before sealing the scrolls into the larger scroll. With that task down, he sealed his scroll, laid it besides him once more before taking out a random tome. After reading for at least 25 minutes, the building shook sand raining from the ceiling. This had caused Dai to snap the tome shut, throw it aside, slid on his scroll before leaping to his feet. Narrowing his brown eyes, he jumped towards the bookshelf in front of him, his feet sticking to the wooden part of a bookshelf before he easily leapt on top of it all with the use of chakra and leg muscle. Again the building shook, more sand falling down and the cries of a very angry spirit echoing across the library. 'Damn that Sokka.' Was his thought before he caught the sight of a black, feathered creature with a long neck chasing after 3 kids and a stumbling man dropping tomes and scrolls here and there.

With a small snort he kicked off and with a chakra filled boost he shot forwards, tilting his body, Dai's right leg stretching out. A small crack could be heard, and time stopped for the Gaang when they witnessed Dai kick the raging spirit, sending it flying over the edge of the bridge before falling down the abyss. "Back to the surface! I don't think that spirit will stay down long!" Aang cried, helping the professor up off the ground before running forwards, Katara behind him and Dai in front. The 17-year old quickly stopped and backed up, noticing that there was one echo of running footsteps missing. 'Damn, why must it be that I end up with another Kaede? At least this one isn't as much as a dobe.' "Sokka lets go!" Cried the dobe's sister, "But we don't know when the next eclipse is going to happen?" "Don't be stupid we can find out later." "No we won't. If we leave this place we'll never get the information. Aang, come with me I need cover," with that the avatar ran to the water tribe boy's side, "Dai, take Katara and Momo and get out of here!" "Bu-"The sister was interrupted when a _very_ pissed off spirit crashed through, its gaze snapping towards Dai who kicked it. Nodding his head at Sokka, he grabbed Katara, lifted her into his arms with eas [Momo hanging onto the girl] before sprinting down the aisle without Professor since he dived into another aisle. Behind him, he heard the clatter of talons and screeches which only drove him forwards, 'Chakra or no chakra?' "Look out!" The girl on Dai's arms cried, turning her head to see that Wang was airborne and was about to pick them up with his talons or crush them. Dashing between the spaces of bookshelves, the spirit dove in the aisle seeing the striped tail that belonged to Momo. He weaved as gracefully as a ninja around the shelves, making his way steadily towards the shinobi, water bender, and flying lemur. Turning on his heel once more, Dai dashed across the bridge, Knowledge Spirit blurring past the bridge before it rounded back following Dai once more. Dropping Katara he stretched his fingers as the bender shifted into position. "It won't do you much goo-"He was distracted as Dai's hands blurred into hand seals, a chant of names escaping his lips such as 'tiger' and 'snake.' Wang, thinking it was being mocked by a mere mortal, reared up, stretching his wings apart in preparation for an attack. Before this though, the Senju cried out, "**Ki Eda no Jutsu [Tree Limb Technique]**" To its surprise, Katara, and Professor who was reading nearby, and Aang who was flying above with Sokka hitchhiking as well. 5 large, thick, and green tree roots burst out of the ground, curling over each other like snakes before suddenly stretching out, impaling the Knowledge Spirit in both wings, and wrapping around its legs, waist, and finally neck. Wang, screeched in fear and pure rage before it found itself being thrown over the bridge, spiraling down. With a smug smirk, the wood-style user twisted around and grabbed Katara by her wrist before helping her up onto the rope. He then leapt onto it, eying Aang and Sokka before his attention shifted to the man surrounded by books and sand. 'The professor is going to die here because of _**books**_? He was mental after all.' Dai thought ruefully after he heard the archeologist's reply before climbing up after Katara. Hearing a cry bellow, he swung the rope, leapt to the wall of the spiral tower, grabbed on. He held fast with the use of chakra, before pulling himself up and running the rest of the way to the window ledge. He twisted around to look down, quickly catching glimpse of a battered, feathery owl body that was pulling itself over a bridge. Shooting a rare cheeky smile at Wang Shi-Tong, the ninja jumped out and grabbed hold of the boomerang as he did so. Dai let chakra travel to his legs, cushioning the future impact of sand. As soon as he touched a grain of the material, he bent his legs before taking a step forwards. Behind him, the tower disappeared in a blur, which caused dust to explode outwards. Snorting as he regained his poker face, he half-heartily threw the boomerang weapon back to its owner before raking his fingers through black, locks to his irritation had sand in. His lips tugged downwards in annoyance when he noticed that Appa, the Sky Bison was gone, a downed Toph and a crying Aang.

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><p><em>Author's Note<em>

_**Wow**__, that was longer than I expected. Anyways, I'm Tsukiko104598Daiki. I'm glad that you were able to find this story, and I would love if anyone would point out errors I made in the comments; though please don't be extremely rude about it. To sum it up, this is about my OC, Daiki Senju, a ninja from the Hidden Leaf and he's a wood-style user. I made it where, like in some books, you learn about the character as the story progresses. I'm not going to make any pairings with Dai, (though someone may or may not develop crushes on him [still thinking about it]) since Dai is going to go back home. Don't ask for pairings, don't ask me to change the plot since I already have things planned, and please don't ask me to do this in another perspective. I'm still learning how to write properly and I feel like I'll just confuse myself otherwise. And just so I don't get in trouble or whatever, I don't own Naruto or Avatar the Last Airbender. I do own Daiki Senju [the character]. Before signing off, I would like to thank my friend Nalu for encouraging me._

_-Tsukiko104598Daiki_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey! I'm so happy that people are reading my story and like it! I'm sorry for the large clumps of text, hopefully this is better! I would love if you continue pointing out errors in my stories so I can become better for you guys! _

_ – Yeah, Dai knows one water-style jutsu and one earth-style jutsu. He just uses those as backup though. Hopefully this is easier for everyone to read. Thank you for the compliment and advice. :)_

_Lord-Of-Change – Thank you for the compliment and advice, I hopefully I fixed the problem now. :)_

_Nalue1504the-hero – I'm so happy you like it! And I should have known you would have hero in your user. :)_

_Browser Jr's Descendant – Thank you for the compliment and advice, hopefully the problem is fixed. :) _

_Argorok – Thank you for the compliment, it really does help. :)_

_OC [Daiki Senju, Inuzuka Kaoru, Hyuuga Kaede, Kurama Hanako] © Cutebunny104508_

_Naruto – Naruto Shippuden © Masashi Kishimoto_

_Avatar the Last Airbender © Avatar the Last Airbender Cast & Crew_

Chapter 2

The Desert

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><p>Dai raised a hand to help block the sand that danced in the wind which also tugged at his black locks and white braid of hair. "How could you let them take Appa?! Why didn't you stop them?!" Aang shouted, managing to dry salty tears at the realization that his long-time companion sky bison was missing; instantly blaming Toph. "I couldn't! The library was sinking! You were inside!" Retorted the earth-bender, to which Aang replied with, "You could have come and get us! I could have saved him!" 'How can she go get us inside a sinking library when she couldn't save a bison?' The shinobi let his gaze wander to the bickering two, his eyebrows scrunched closer together at the site of them fighting.<p>

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here," 'She sees through vibrations? Wonder how that works…' "The sand-benders snuck up on me and there wasn't time t-"Without waiting like a calm person, the monk shouted at the blind girl, "You just didn't care! You never liked Appa, you just wanted him gone!" Taking a step forward, he got to them quicker than Katara, "Stop making false accusations. She was trying to the best of her ability; it seems like accusing someone of being lazy because they can't jog-walk for long." Nodding her head, the water-tribe girl took a step forwards, "Aang, stop it. You know Toph did all she could."

At this the earth-bender closed her eyes and looked away, "She saved our lives." "Who's going to save our lives now? We'll never make it out of here." Sokka mumbled his words loud enough for the rest of the Gaang to hear. "That's all any of you guys care about! Yourselves!" Aang shouted, stomping away, sand exploding out every time he took a step.

"You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" Narrowing his eyes at even more accusations, Dai followed after the troubled boy. "Just because we worry about ourselves at times doesn't mean we don't care. But, we should still put the life of our comrades ahead of our own at times."

The ninja sighed, crouching down, his eyes closing as he tried to sense chakra signatures that belonged to the kidnapped and the kidnappers. "Like Dai said, we're all concerned. But we can't afford to be fighting now."

'Dang it…I can't see the trails through all this wind and sand…' Standing up, he watched as Aang shouted about finding Appa with Katara running after him, a sigh escaping his mouth. "We better start walking now…We're the only people that know about the solar eclipse. We got to get that information to Ba-Sing-Se." As the group started to march forwards, Dai undid the white braid before slowly braiding the hair once more. "You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride home?"

Sighing, the boy raked his fingers through his hair, brushing the dark locks that covered his right eye. 'Why must Kami do this to me? What must have I done to deserve this? Or maybe I fell off the deep end while napping or stuck in an extremely strong genjutsu?' Scratching his chin, he watched amusedly as the water-tribe buffoon forgets once again that Toph cannot exactly watch where she was going.

"Come on guys, we got to stick together…" Dai felt his body tremble at hidden laughter as Sokka tried to pry himself off Toph only to get shoved away, 'Baka.' At the mention of water, he shuffled forwards slightly, watching with amazement as Katara easily 'bended' the water to her will. 'Isn't there Kekkei Genkai similar to water bending? Or was there a jutsu that was similar to this? Once I get home I'll have to research.'

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><p>Lifting a hand, he poked the small globe of water, "Its fine Katara. I don't want that much. Just…slice it in half." Once the sphere was smaller, Dai leaned forwards, cupping his hands around the water and taking small sips of it. 'Is the water even different than from my h-'"Wait, isn't this your bending water…You used this on the swamp guys! Eww!" 'That explains it.' "It does taste swampy." Toph commented after Sokka's outburst, smacking her lips together as did Momo.<p>

Tapping his chin, he thought about the current limitations on their supply of water. 'I do have a canteen of water, but I rather save that till the bending water runs out…Hopefully we don't run into anything hostile. We still have Aang, Toph, and Sokka, but how much battle experience do they actually have? Man, I sound like Inu-senpai...'

Shaking his head at the thought of the Jounín, he pushed back the thoughts of Konoha to concentrate more on the current problem. 'Maybe, Katara can bend some water out of the water sources that feed the cactuses around here.'

"Not anymore!" Glancing at the cactus that provided juice for Sokka to drink, Dai narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Sokka, don't drink water of random cactuses you find. How do we know it's not poisonous to you?" Shuffling towards the other guy, Dai noticed out of the corner of his left eye as Katara dragged Toph forwards. Slicing up more of the cactus, Sokka grabbed a piece before standing up, holding it forwards towards him. "Are you sure? It's really thirst quenching though."

With a poker face, Dai watched as the dobe closed his eyes before opening them wide, his pupils dilating, 'He did not just…' "Drink at this juice." Sokka held the cactus cup away, an arm raised above his head as his fingers wiggled. The fool then looked back to Sokka, "It'll quench ya."

He then watched amused as Sokka threw the cactus away and started to slither and wiggle along the sand. "Nothing's quencher!" Dai bit his lip as he contained his laughter once more, the man in his face again, the cactus cup in his hand again, and "It's the quenches'!" Katara then grabbed the cup, pouring the water out, "Okay I think you had enough."

"Who lit Toph on fire?" 'Yup.' His gaze shifted to Momo who flew in circles above them before head-diving into the sand. 'Both of them... Great.' As Katara picked up the drunken lemur, "Can I get some of that cactus juice?" asked the earth-bender. "Better not Toph." He replied with a sigh, Dai then grabbed Sokka by the wrist, dragging him after Katara. "How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean?" Shivers traveled up the Senju's spine in irritation as the question was whispered in his ear.

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><p>Throwing the water-tribe man and the lemur that hung onto Sokka's neck behind him at the sound of an explosion. Dai narrowed his eyes and lifted a hand to block the explosion of sand whipping at his face that blew his multi-colored hair back. His gaze then shifted to the giant sand cloud, 'What was that? Is it a natural storm? The answer is probably no. Maybe it's Wang-Shi-Tong? I doubt it. That leaves a large desert creature, Aang, or Appa.' "What is that?" Katara questioned, taking a step forwards.<p>

"What is what?" Toph asked, twisting around as if trying to catch 'sight' of the sand cloud. "It's a…Giant Mushroom!" Sokka spoke, raising his arms his blue eyes wide. "Maybe it's friendly!" The dobe than waved his arms, Momo swinging back and forth, chanting 'friendly mushroom, mushy giant friend.' Dai pinched the bridge of his nose before dragging Sokka once more behind him. 'I don't know who irritates me more. Sokka or Kaede. Hopefully, Sokka won't follow me home.'

"Dai, back when we were escaping from Wang Shi-Tong's Library, what was it that you did? And what about…whatever you did with your hands was." Turning his head at the mention of his name, Dai stared emotionlessly at Katara, pondering on his answer.'A rare sort of bending from a secret society I hail from? No. Should I say it's just a rare sort of bending that branch from Earth-bending? No, I don't think she would believe that. And from the bending styles in the scrolls, bending requires whole arm movements. I only performed hand seals which won't count as entire arm movement.…'

A moment later, his reply came, "It's a rare type of bending; I don't know which element it branches off from though. And the thing I did with my hands is how I perform the bending." Seeing Katara nod her head at his rather odd reply, his attention flew to Sokka once more.

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><p>Dai snorted as he shuffled along, behind Sokka, his fish-net covered arm raised against the setting sun's rays. Blinking he watched as Aang landed, sand exploding away from the air-bender as he did so. "I'm sorry Aang; I know it's hard for you right now. But we need to focus on getting out of here." Katara said in a soothing voice, taking steps forward until she was close enough to put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa. We all know it."<p>

"Come on Aang. We can do this if we work together." Turning towards Toph, Katara smiled hopefully, "Toph?" "As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothing." Frowning, Katara turned towards her sibling who was laying on the sand with his limbs splayed out. 'Why as a drunken idiot?' Dai asked himself, eyeing Katara, "Sokka any ideas how to find Ba Sing-Se?" "Why don't we ask the circle birds?" His reply came, a hand raised to point at, 'Wait. Are those chimeras of a vulture and a bee or hornet?'

"Dai…? Any ideas on how to get out of here?" Katara at last turned to him, her raised eyebrows turning his insides to mush. 'Summon a frog or two? But I don't know whether or not they feel like carrying 5 people across a desert the size of who knows what. The risk would be worth it if I had more water and some treats…but I should save it instead…'

'And there is the thing of where exactly am I. If it is another world, Kami I sound like a lunatic, could I summon a tadpole? And I don't think these people believe in people with bending abilities that summons frogs and toads.' "I'm sorry; I don't know how to get out of here, Katara." Dai sighed, rubbing his temple and shrugging his shoulders at his rather lame reply. Dai frowned as Katara circling around, his gaze following hers as they eyed the depressed monk, wobbly Toph, and drunken water-tribe boy plus Flying Lemur.

Head shaking at the situation, he grabbed Toph by the hand and steadied her, the earth-bender in return nodding her head. He then dragged Sokka up silently, grabbing both him and Toph by the hands as Katara grabbed Aang's hand. In return, the monk grabbed Toph's free hand, the water-bender leading them along as Sokka gripped Momo by his tail grinning.

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><p>Tired puffs of breath escaped Dai as he pulled himself up the dune, his legs feeling like lead, his sides aching and his back hunched the scroll suddenly feeling like a thousand pounds. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, his hair matted down with sweat and sand. 'I need to rehydrate myself…Since they already know about the scroll, and I can share that canteen. And I'll have the split up the ration bars. Hopefully this is a safe area to rest in; I don't think everyone can hold out much longer.'<p>

Closing his tired brown eyes, concentrating harder than usual to sense any close chakra signatures other than the 3 pre-teens and one teenager he was currently traveling with. Seeing as there were no real threats close by, Dai changed directions, slowly dropping to his knees besides an old withered tree.

"I think we should rest here for now. No point in continuing when most of the group can barely walk." He shouted to the rest of the group, propping his left leg up. Katara nodded her head as Aang, Toph, and Sokka collapsed down.

Once glancing around, the shinobi removed the scroll on his back, propping it on the tree before taking a seat besides it. The shinobi then leaned back, shifting comfortably against the tree's trunk besides the blue scroll. Dai then stretched out his legs, undoing the straps that held pouch of kunai and sickle plus chain to his waist before setting it on his left. He then moved to the straps that held the pouch of shuriken on his right thigh, and once that was done he set it besides his other weapons.

Moving on, he rolled up the legs of his dark navy blue pants to his knees. Dai then stretched forwards, knees lifting as he did, his fingers twisting the knots of the bandages to untie them. The boy released a silent breath of relief at the silent breeze that hit his skin before continuing. Rolling the bandages up, he set them on his right before pulling off his sandals and giving them a good shake. With that complete, he put his sandals back on, tying the bandages once more on his legs, tucking the ends in, and rolling down the legs of his pants.

The shinobi yawned before retying the weapons he carried back to their proper place. Glancing up, Dai scanned the area of threatening chakra signatures before continuing. He rolled up the sleeves of fishnet he wore to the sleeves of his short-sleeved black shirt. 'What an awful thing to wear in the desert. Then again, I didn't plan on being here.' His hands than reached behind his neck, pulling at the knots of his hitai-ate before it dropped into his lap.

'I'll leave it off for a minute…' Dai thought to himself as he raked his fingers through his hair, trying [and failing at certain clumps of hair] to remove the sand that ended up in his hair from constant sand clouds. Sighing, he brushed the lock of black hair that covered his right brown eye, his fingers sliding over the scar right beneath on his check. Shrugging his shoulders, the boy then tugged at the hair band keeping the small braid of white hair. He watched Toph ask for water silently, eyeing the amount of water that slid out of Katara's pouch as he redid the braid.

"Dai! You should get some water too, you know." Came the water bender's cry, his gaze shifting to the somewhat presence lacking-teenager. At that moment, Momo flew through the water, sending it splashing down onto the sand. "Momo, no! You killed us all!" Sokka shouted, dragging himself forwards, eyeing the wet sand before gripping his hair in pure frustration. "No. He didn't." Sighed Katara tiredly, bending the water out of the sand. "Oh…That's right. Bending." The man's face then erupted into a shit-eating grin.

'Dobe. Teme. Baka. Why did I have to be the one sent here?' Dai thought to himself, retying the hitai-ate back to his neck and strapping the scroll onto his back once more before shuffling closer to the group. Giving the pouch of water back to Toph, the shinobi tilted his head as he stared at the water-tribe duo. "Sokka. Let me see the things you got from the library."

Trembling at the comedy routine, he watched as the other teen pulled himself up and away from his sister; gripping his bag in a death grip. "What? I didn't steal anything. Who told you that?" Sokka then lifted his hand and pointed his finger in Momo's face, "It was _you! You_ ratted me out!" As Momo hid his face, the lemur shaking as if crying, Dai chuckled under his breath drawing Toph's attention.

After stopping, the Senju inched forwards before settling besides Katara staring at the scrolls that she pulled out from Sokka's bag. "It doesn't matter; it won't tell us where Appa is." Came a depressed Aang's voice from behind. Shrugging his shoulder sadly, Dai's attention shifted back towards the scrolls, "No, it won't. But it will tell us which way Ba Sing-Se is." 'The dobe was smart enough to 'borrow' maps of constellations! Though, I guess the stars here are different.'

Taking a deep breath of annoyance couple with tiredness, he drifted away from Katara before standing in front of the tree. He then jumped up; grabbing what seemed to be one of the sturdier branches. With a crack, it snapped, and before it could hit his head, Dai threw it to his left where it landed with a 'plop.'

He then stared at Katara checking if she was asleep or not. Sure enough, the water-bender was but the breaths of another bender suggested he was not. 'Too risky to create any sort of clone while Aang's awake. I'll just have to stay awake along with him till he does go to sleep.'

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><p>What felt like an hour later, Dai noticed that Aang's breath calmed prompting him to silently creep forwards on silent feet. Eying the gentle raise and fall of the smaller boy's chest, his eyes sealed shut confirmed he was asleep.<p>

Nodding his head, the shinobi then checked the others before creeping behind the tree. Tilting his head, Dai listened for any changes before his hands formed a seal. With a silent, "Wood Style, Wood Clone," a face followed by a body formed in the trunk.

Smirking as his perfected technique created the clone, he whispered, "Wake me up when it's close for you to dispel or if someone is waking up." Nodding its head, the clone merged with the tree once more so it had a better view and less of a chance of being discovered. Returning to the front of the tree, he slowly dropped down to his knees, slid off the scroll and propped it down besides the tree. He then removed his weapons, laying down in front of him before laying down himself.

With that, he rolled onto his back, his hands over his stomach as he stared at the stars between the tree's dead branches. 'I wonder how my team is…If they're staring at the stars right now.' With that though, his eyelids fluttered close as he plunged into a sleep, memories of the mission he was sent on entering his mind.

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><p>Trees whirled past as Daiki Senju or Dai leapt from branch to branch, his senpai Inuzuka Kaoru on his dog familiar leaping on his right. On his left, his teammate and rival, Hyuuga Kaede, his Kekkei Genkai, the byakugan activated. Behind him, he heard the thumps of branches that signaled the last team member, Kurama, Hanako was following closely behind. In front of them was the ninja that they were chasing, a large scroll in his arms as he desperately tried to outrun his pursuers.<p>

Hands gripping his weapon, Dai threw the sickle at the man's leg, twisting the chain end so it wrapped around it. With a tug, the man fell down, the team of ninja leaping down after him. Dai watched as the man's green eyes darted between him and his teammates.

The black growling dog with his senpai on top looked rather intimidating. Kaoru wore the green Jounín vest, standard navy blue pants, bandages that tucked into his shinobi sandals, had red stripe marks on his checks, and his hitai-ate was wrapped around his waist. Kaede wore a shirt that had a long-sleeve that reached his wrist on the right but was short-sleeved on the left. Bandages were wrapped around his arm stopping at his fingers, his hitai-ate was wrapped around his left bicep. The shirt was of beige color and tucked into his black pants. He was also wearing standard shinobi sandals, and his hair was pulled into a ponytail that reached his shoulder blades. Hanako wore a sort of dark navy tunic, the sleeves reaching her wrists with a tan sash tied around her waist. She had grey shorts that stopped at her knees, a pouch containing paper, an inkwell, and a pencil. She had long, dark brown hair that reached her waist, with a braid of hair that reached below her chest; her hair band had a small paint brush on it.

"D-Don't take a step c-closer! O-Or I-I'll use the Kinjutsu in here to harm you!" The man cried out, pressing his back against a tree, his fingers fumbling with the scroll. "Yeah, right! Like you can perform Kinjutsu!" Kaede laughed, taking a step forwards, only for the scroll to stretch wide, ancient kanji written on it. Dai, realizing that the thief _was_ performing the jutsu, shove the over-confident Hyuuga away, light filling his wide, chocolate eyes.

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><p>As soon as a hand was laid on his shoulder, brown eyes blinked open; the light from the memory fading before taking notice of the second him that pointed at Aang who was stirring. Nodding his head, Dai watched as the wood clone jumped into the tree, merging with it but this time it dispelled the jutsu.<p>

Stretching out his limbs, the ninja slid the scroll back on, and securing his weapons. He watched as Katara stirred slowly afterwards before shuffling to her brother, shaking his shoulder and waking him with a gentle, "Wake up Sokka." The Senju then crept closer to Toph, gently shaking her till her eyelids flickered. Said girl pulled herself up, her blind white eyes unfocused as usual as she smacked her lips before stating, "Yesterday my mouth tasted like mud. Now it just tastes like sand. I never thought I would miss the taste of mud so much."

Ignoring Aang's comment of never going to bed, 'He forgot he went to sleep.' His gaze drifted upwards, taking notice of a cloud floating in front of the moon. "Appa!" Was the cry from the monk behind him, 'Poor kid. How long did he even know Appa?' Dai thought as he lifted himself up, staring at the cloud then Sokka.

"Appa? Why would Princess Yuai need him? She's the moon! She flies by herself!" The still-drunk teen cried as he rubbed Momo's stripped tail against his face, his mouth stretching once more into a shit-eating grin. "Sokka. Are you talking about a moon spirit? If not, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

"It's just a cloud…" 'She's a water bender yet she doesn't realize that there's water in a cloud. But it is a desert cloud...' "Wait. A cloud." 'Never mind.' Dai watched silently as Aang flew up to the cloud, zooming through it twice before spiraling down. Once close enough, the Avatar threw Katara's water pouch back to its owner before landing.

"Wow…There's hardly any water in here…" Noted Katara, and upon seeing Aang's expression at the comment, Dai frowned. "I'm sorry okay! It's a desert cloud. I did all I could! What's anyone else doing?" The frustrated air-bender lifted his glider before swinging it towards Katara, "What are you doing?!" Scrunching up his nose at the younger boy's behavior, the ninja then followed after Katara. 'I feel…Useless. That isn't good for a shinobi. We are 'tools' that help our villages.' Dai thought to himself with a silent sigh.

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><p>Dai glanced down, noticing what seemed to be a lump of, 'Wood?' Quickly, he whipped around, gently tapping Toph's shoulder to stop her. Once the earth-bender stopped walking also shooting him a confused glance, the shinobi crouched down in front of the lump.<p>

"Toph, can you tell what this is?" Hearing the shuffle of feet, his gaze shifted to his right as he noticed as she placed a hand on it. "What idiot buries a boat in the middle of the desert?!" Dai quickly shot a glance at Sokka at that exclamation from Toph. He quickly stood up, pulling the earth-bender up before stepping away as Aang approached. Taking notice of the stance the air-bender took; Dai lifted his hand, shielding his eyes as he recognized a bending stance. Sure enough, wind whipped around as Aang slashed the glider, revealing a sailor similar to the one Dai notice sand-benders use.

The shinobi eyed the mode of transportation, crouching down to feel the wood underneath his hands before following Katara. 'Duh. Who else would use a glider like this? I think in one of the scrolls, it mentions that air-benders are extinct; not counting Aang of course.' Dai thought to himself with an eye roll. "Aang! You can bend a breeze to sail it! We're going to make it!" Katara cried in joy, a smirk tugging Dai's lips up before glancing to Sokka. "Dobe." He muttered underneath his breath, a annoy look splattered across his face as the water-tribe teen patted sand over Momo and laughed.

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><p>Dai sighed closing his dark brown eyes, concentrating on his chakra as he ignored the random noises Sokka made who was sitting behind him in the back of the glider. "This needle on the compass doesn't seem to be pointing North according to my charts." Katara muttered worriedly as the shinobi opened his brown eyes before he twisted around to glance at her.<p>

"Don't worry; I'm sure the sand benders that built this baby know how to get around here." Was Sokka's reply, as he still gripped Momo by the tail, the flying lemur trying to fly forwards. "Could be a bigger and stronger magnetic source nearby?" Dai asked, Katara nodding at his reply before shooting her brother a glare. The water bender gasped after turning around, "That's what the compass is pointing to. That gigantic rock. It must be the magnetic center of the desert."

Pulling himself up, Dai walked till he was besides Katara, his eyes scanning the rock. "A rock? Yes! Let's go!" Dai titled his head, gaze shifting to the cheering Toph. "Maybe we can find some water there." Dai heard Katara's hopeful comment, slightly dipping his head in agreement. "Maybe we can find some sand benders," replied a scornful monk's voice.

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><p>Daiki Senju watched as dawn slowly replaced night on top of the large rock, once again questioning how he came to this strange place. At Toph's comment of solid ground, the shinobi glanced over his shoulder watching as said earth-bender made a rock angel. Snorting, he watched as the Gaang approached some of the caves, following silently behind them. His eyes scanned the yellow slime that coated the walls.<p>

'This looks like something a very, very large worm or any insect would carve to create a sort of hive or nest. And my point is proven by the hexagon shape…Damn, of all the times there wasn't someone from the Aburame Clan isn't here.' "I think my head is starting to clear out the cactus juice." Glancing at Sokka, Dai did realize he did seem somewhat calmer. "And look!" The dobe then collected a bunch of the goo, licked it off his hand [Momo too] before spitting it out.

'Seems like it didn't completely clear out. Or he's just acting like normally.' He thought to himself, brushing the black locks in front of his eye back only to snort when they rested back in their original position. "Tastes like rotten penguin meat!" At that, he tuned out the bickering of the water tribe siblings; his eyes closing as the shinobi tilted his head. He sent a small amount of chakra into his ears and he suddenly heard buzzing from deep within the cave. Frowning, Dai concentrated on chakra signatures. 'We really are in a hive of…something.'

"I don't think this is a normal cave." Shooting a glance at Toph, he nodded, "It isn't. It seems like something carved into it, and if you listen closely you hear busing. Out. Now." Dai raised his voice, grabbing the attention of the others before calmly walking towards the entrance.

Shortly after he made it out, he heard the frighten screams of Toph, the buzzing sound now louder. Twisting around, Dai then gripped the handle of the sickle and the handle at the end of the chain, removing it from its place at his belt.

With the attack Sickle Dance in mind, the shinobi threw the blade end forwards before pulling the chain down. Dai then leapt up, kicked the vulture bee then continued to slash and kick it. Finally, he whipped the sickle end around before throwing it forwards, sending his target flying, killing it long before it landed. Hearing the buzz of a vulture bee behind him, Dai leapt forwards, twisting around, threw the sickle forwards before leaping up to kick it backwards. He then threw the chain end, the iron ball connected to the handle smashing into the creature's beak before he pulled the other handle back.

Narrowing eyes, he whipped the blade end once more, thrusting it forwards sending his target flying up. Dai then swung the sickle end up before plunging it down with a tug from the other end, killing the vulture bee. Dai then leapt forwards towards another target, slashing the sickle up, down, whipping it to the side, thrusting it forwards before doing the same with the other side, and finally bringing down the blade, smashing the vulture bee against the rocks bellow.

Seeing a cluster of vulture bees, the shinobi rushed forwards till he was underneath, and with a chakra boosted swing, knocked them high up. He then swung the sickle behind him, and threw it in an arc before plunging it back down slashing through all 3 of his targets.

Dai danced through more of the vulture bees, cutting them down and unleashing combos of iron ball, sickle blade, and kicks with no mercy. The shinobi thrust the iron ball end, wrapping it around an enemy before dashing forwards, the blade cutting through the fragile neck.

Standing up from his crouched position, the Senju noticed the absence of the Gaang. Snorting, he noticed chimeras being blown back by rocks, 'Guess I find out where those rocks are flying from.' Jumping down over the ledge, he nimbly landed on his feet besides Sokka who yipped in fright.

Frowning, Dai noticed that Aang and Momo were missing, but his gaze shifted towards Katara who helped coordinate Toph. "Katara. Where is Aang and Momo?" "Oh, a vulture bee kidnapped Momo and Aang went after it. I think." Sokka replied, "You're right, Sokka." Katara mumbled, prompting a nod from the black & white haired boy.

The shinobi quickly took notice of a nearby vulture bee, threw the sickle out, pulled it down, before whipping it back up with the motion of thrusting the chain upwards, slicing the stomach of a vulture bee. He then pulled the blade back, preparing to attack another only to stop as giant columns of earth attacked the rest. 'Impressive. Though, it left some alive…'

Once the columns retreated back down, Dai calmed his breaths only to notice the mummy-men that surrounded them. He crouched down, his muscles tensed, his weapon in front of him in case the sander benders decided to attack. He kept his chocolate eyes on the sand benders, refusing to look at Aang in case an attack happened when he was not giving them their full attention.

"What are you doing in our land with sand bender sailors? From the looks of it you stole it from the Nahami Tribe." One of the men questioned his voice raspy as we wore an expression of scorn. 'I would take a guess he's the leader, and he thinks we're thieves. Does he know one of his men is a thief him or herself? Or is the culprit from another tribe?'

"We found the sailor abounded in the desert. We're traveling with the avatar." Katara pointed to Aang at her explanation, and instantly the man's gaze softened. Stepping away from Aang, he stood besides Katara, "The bison we were traveling with, Appa was stolen. We have to make it to Ba Sing-Se." Dai added, "You dare accuse us of stealing when you sail on a stolen sand sailor!" One of the men cried, 'Threat alert. We didn't accuse anyone of anything.' Pumping a bit of chakra to his ears, the shinobi closed his eyes, focusing on the sound of the man. 'Bingo. His heart is beating faster than it should. He's nervous about something or he has some sort of disorder.' The man felt his lips tugged upwards in a smirk as he opened his eyes.

"Gashwin, nobody accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we should give them hospitality." The leader retorted, shooting a glare at the newly dubbed Gashwin, "Sorry father…" "I recognize the son's voice. He's the one that stole Appa." Tilting his head at Toph's comment, Dai tensed once more, "Are you sure?" Katara immediately asked, "I never forget a voice." Toph replied, "Blind people do have a better recognition of noises sometimes, and I don't think Toph's joking." He added quietly.

"You stole Appa!" Aang cried out, walking menacingly towards the sand benders, his glider pointed at Gashwin. "Where is he?! What did you do to him?!" Gashwin, who, to Dai's eyes looked nervous and guilty, shouted to his father. "They're liars! They're the thieves!" Aang let out a roar, jumping up, his glider staff pointed at a sand bender before releasing a powerful current of air. "Where is my bison?" The avatar growled, Dai dully noting how white the boy's knuckles were around the staff.

"You tell me where he is right now!" Aang yelled, destroying a sand sailor with his airbending abilities, "What did you do?" The leader questioned his son. "It-It wasn't me!"Gashwin cried out, 'Wrong answer…Unfortunately for him.' "You said to put a muzzle him." Toph spat, pointing at the guilty sand bender. "You muzzled Appa?!" Aang's face twisted into one of rage, his tattoos suddenly glowing as well as his eyes. He crouched down before releasing another current of air, destroying another sailor. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't know it belonged to the avatar!" Gashwin cried, holding out his hands.

'What the hell is with the glowing-ness? Is it like some sort of sage mode?' Dai questioned, "Tell me where Appa is!" Shouted Aang, his voice echoed by others beneath his own. "I-I traded him with some merchants…He's probably in Ba Sing-Se by now…" The sand bender trembled as he spoke, "They were going to sell him there…Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help you however we can!"

Sand whipped around, and Dai nodded as Sokka shouted about getting out of there. His gaze then shifted to Aang, who had spheres of wind and sand circle around him, slowly raising him up. The shinobi silently watched as Katara approach, grabbed the avatar by the hand before pulling him down. He watched as the two cry and thought to himself with a scowl, 'Why is my day getting worse and worse? Why did Kaede have to be so thick-headed at times? What kind of Kinjutsu sent me here? Did I do something to personally upset Kami or something?' Soon after, the whipping winds and sand died down as did the glowing tattoos.

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><p><em>Author's Note<em>

_Incase if you were confused by the battle scene, go to this link - _ watch?v=xNKjRkdxhUg_ . When using his chain/iron ball & sickle, Dai fights similarly to Hanzo. Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you continue to review since it really does help._

_-Tsukiko104598Daiki_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi! I know, I know, I'm late! I'm sorry…Please continuing reading; I promise I didn't abound it. There are a lot of typo/grammar problems since I have a lagging computer [noted below], so I apologize. The link in the second chapter is to a video of Hanzo's move set from Naruto Shippuden Ninja Storm 3. I tried to be more descriptive, and I hope I improved._

Nalu1504the-hero – I'm sorry, lagging computer. And yes, your party was rather awesome. Thank you for the compliment, I'll work hard to actually deserve it. :)

_OC [Daiki Senju, Inuzuka-Senpai, Kaede Hyuuga, Hanako Kurama] © Tsukiko104598Daiki_

_Naruto Shippuden © Masashi Kishimoto_

_Avatar The Last Airbender © Avatar The Last Airbender crew_

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><p>Journey to Ba Sing-Se Part One- The Serpent's Pass<p>

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><p>The teen opened an eye before looking over his shoulder with an irritated look at the Avatar that called him. "Hey! Why don't you jump into the water! It's refreshing!" 'Swim or practice water-walking…Can't, that's probably considered water bending. Maybe I should work on Water Wave Hand? Inuzuka-Senpai was teaching me another water style…what was it? Water Style Raging Waves jutsu with Dragon Hare Tiger hand seals? But then again, I already told Katara my Wood Release was a type of bending, and only the avatar can control different elements…That mean I can't work on my Earth-jutsu either, maybe I should work on Moku Shouheki no Jutsu [Wood Barrier Jutsu]? But swimming laps is a good way to exercise, and it'll let me relax on my chakra a little bit more. '<p>

Shrugging, the Senju walked towards the rocks bordering the edge before sliding off the pouches, sickle plus chain, and scroll. Dai then tugged off his shirt, but left the fishnet shirt he wore underneath on. He then pulled his sandals off, placing them besides his shirt and weapons. Crouching down, he held his left leg forwards; pant legs rolled up, fingers moving to undo the bandages. After that, he worked on his right; with both legs stripped before setting the bandages near his things after rolling it into a ball. Flexing his shoulder blades, Dai then carefully set down his Leaf Village Hitai-ate over his shirt.

Putting his left foot back, arms stretched above his head, the shinobi leapt then leapt forwards. He entered an almost splash-less dive, keeping still before Dai kicked his legs sending him upwards. Breaking water, the teen took a deep breath before he continued, legs kick, an arm pulling back then raise above his head, dip under water, push back before the other arm did as well. Every other arm, Dai would raise his head taking a breath before plunging his face back down.

Quickly, his fingers brushed rock, and to avoid head injuries, he used both hands and feet to push back, twisting so he was now on his back. His legs continued to kick; his eyes squinted against the splashes his arms sent as they moved in circle motions besides him, pinkie every so often brushing his ear.

"Water-bending bomb!" A girl cried above Dai; snorting, the teen twisted back onto his stomach. He kicked his legs and propelled himself forwards until a large wave knocked him skywards.

Leaning backwards, the shinobi tried to find his center balance, the ground quickly rushing towards him. He then placed his chin against his chest/collarbone; rolling forwards as earth meet him…Harshly on his back, the fishnet shirt he wore barely protecting tanned skin. Dai pulled himself to his feet; resisting a flinch as he felt himself tense; lips tugged downward in a frown.

"Dai! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you got into the water!" Cried Katara from behind him, said Senju looking over his shoulder to send her a half-hearted glare before it instantly turned into a somewhat sly smirk.

"It's fine Katara; the impact wasn't so painful anyways." Shrugging his shoulders, Dai pulled off the rubber band and undid the loose braid the locks were woven into. After giving his head a slight shake, he grabbed at his shirt; giving it a shake before pulling it over his fishnet.

Sitting down, he tied the navy cloth of his hitai-ate around his neck before tugging the black shirt's collar up. Dai then tugged at the short sleeves of his shirt before readjusting the wrists of his fishnet. Pulling up a leg, he brushed the pants leg up till his knees, his hands working the wrap bandages down to his ankles. He did the same to the other then slid on his sandals/open-toed boots; ends of the bandages neatly tucked in.

Throwing the scroll on his back, the sickle at his side, pouch of shuriken at his other side, the straps of the pouch to his kunai around his left leg, Dai nodded his head after confirming nothing was taken. Glancing upwards, brown eyes stared as 'fellow refugees' called to the group.

'I should think about what my plan of action is rather than talking with strangers. Should I continue traveling with these kids, or should I just draw a copy of their map and be on my way? The pros of leaving are I won't have the 'responsibilities' of looking after Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo, and Appa if we ever find him. And they aren't my priorities-finding my way back to Konoha _is_. But I could learn more information from them, but it might prove to be more useful to find information on my own.'

"C'mon Dai! We're taking the 'peaceful ferry ride' instead of Sokka's 'Deadly route!'" Grunting, the shinobi pulled himself up and out of his thoughts. 'I'll break off at Ba Sing-Se and make my way from there. And for now, I'll keep all my hair down.' Dai thought to himself as he shuffled behind the group [Refugees including], hands casually at his sides.

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><p>"I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted in the Fire Nation." Dai titled his head, emotionless eyes scanning the tents and walls of Moon-Crest Bay. "In every war people's lives are uprooted. Not just the Earth Kingdom, but also the Fire Nation, maybe even the Water Tribe. Everyone suffers." "Everyone is looking for a better life. Safe, behind the walls of Ba Sing-Se." Was the Father's comment to his own, 'I wonder if anyone from the Fire Nation might be there. If that's true…It could be useful to study their bending if they can bend fire.'<p>

'What _is_ that thing? First I come across 6-legged, horned, flying Bison and chimeras that are mixes of vultures and hornets. Now a bear with a platypus beak and is that a platypus tail? From the Gaang's reaction to a fox, maybe a lot of animals are mixes of ones from my own home…It even has teeth for some odd reason!' Inching close, Dai's hand reached for his scroll before a hand gripped the back of his collar and pulled him closer.

Dai glanced at Toph, head titled at the Booth lady's [1] sudden change of attitude with ringed hands swept up with palms facing the roof. "Yes, it is your pleasure, and as you can see I am blind and these," Toph's hand pointed at the shinobi and the rest of the Gaang. "4 imbeciles are my assistances [2]." Grunting, Dai placed his hand on the handle of the sickle, thumb rubbing the worn leather grip. "But the animal-"The woman gulped as the earth-bender interrupted her, "Is my seeing-eye lemur."

"Normally it's once ticket per passport-"Glancing to the side, Dai closed his eyes in patience now ignoring the booth lady, 'Maybe I should have tried to make genjutsu of making a leaf or something seem like a passport. But then again, what would happen when it wore off, I don't think I can hold a genjutsu for as long as Hanako, and she isn't here...'

Stretching his arms over and behind his head, fingers laced together as he strolled causally behind Katara. Dai titled his head every often, his brown eyes scanning the refugees. 'Don't think about her. Think about her when I go try to find a way home. Maybe visit some crumpling temples and hope to find a guru or something to help.'

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><p>"Gwaah!" Sokka cried from behind and instantly four gleaming shuriken appeared in the shinobi's hands, Dai's eyes scanning Sokka's 'attacker.' 'Dobe.' Snorting in annoyance as one kissed the other before embracing; the glinting weapons slipped from his fingers and back to their rightful places.<p>

"I'll grab a tree branch and do some chin touches, nothing major." The Senju looked up from braiding the lock of white hair to stare at Sokka, once again adopting a poker face. "Sokka. Don't over exaggerate." Ignoring the water tribe teen's angry puff, Dai shifted his attention to his braid once more, fingers weaving the strands of hair somewhat between loose and tight then wrapping the rubber band.

"Why are you getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you fly across on Appa?" Taking a deep breath before releasing a long sigh, Dai's chocolate eyes met Sukki's, "Appa went missing. Someone in such a big city such as Ba Sing-Se must have seen a large, white flying bison like Appa."

Scrunching up his nose as Sukki apologized for one reason or another, Dai walked to the wall's edge, arms crossing the other. "Avatar Aang! You must help us! Someone took all of our belongings. Our passports, our tickets, everything is gone!" "I'll talk to the lady for you!" Aang shouted back to the crying lady as the shinobi's fingers curled into a fist.

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><p>Standing besides Toph, brown eyes narrowed in slight aggression, lips tugged down in a frown worthy of an Uchiha were Dai. 'Maybe a sliver of killer intent might loosen her up enough so we can finally get out of here.'<p>

"Don't worry; you'll get to the city safely. I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass." Dai broke his glare from the [slightly sweating] Booth Lady to stare at Aang. "Are you sure you can handle a serpent? I'm sure there will be some kind of serpent since it's in the name."

"I'm coming too!" A voice like Sukki, 'Probably is Sukki,' cried from behind the group. Turning around, the wood-'bender' eyed the girl. 'Is the makeup to distract her enemies or be a colorful target? Maybe it's to hide her face making her unrecognizable to idiots like Sokka. The dress, depending on the material, can slow her down.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" "Sokka, I thought you would want me to come." "I don't it's just-""Just what?" "Nothing. I'm glad you're coming." Once the warrior was out of an earshot the shinobi stole a glance at Sokka, "That was like a horrible married couple routine." Dai teased, a smirk plastered onto his face as the tanned boy turned a slight shade of red.

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><p>"So this is the Serpent's Pass? I thought it would be more windy-like a serpent. I guess they misnamed it." Grunting, he scanned the waters, caution in his shimmering brown eyes. "Sokka, I'm sure they named it Serpent's Pass for a reason. If the literal pass isn't windy, I think there might be a giant killer serpent. Why else is it a route only the truly desperate take?"<p>

Glancing over, Dai traced the characters in Abandon, "Many people say that you should take action, not wait for it to happen, Aang. Hopefully, that is what the Monks mean, since hope can be a driving-force for many great things." Lifting his gaze, the shinobi bore into the avatar's back as he walked after the young monk.

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><p>"The fire nation patrols the western lake. Rumor has it that they're working on something big and don't want anybody to find out what it is." Dai tore his gaze away from the metal ship, his nose scrunched up. "They're probably bluffing. If they <em>are<em> working on something big, why create a rumor? Spies will be sent, and then a possible hidden ace is lost."

'Crap!' Dai quickly armed himself with the sickle and chain, eyes narrowing in frustration as the father refugee fell. Throwing out the chain, he wrapped it around the man's waist then pulled; the man now flying at Dai. Spreading his arms, heels dug firmly into the ground; Dai gripped the man in a bear hug before quickly dropping the father besides him. Immediately, an "I'm okay!" and family group hug initiated; 'Thank Kami the father is safe.' He rubbed the leather of both handles before securing it on; memories of a fatherless childhood squashed down by the impending danger.

"They spotted us! Let's go, let's go!" Dai slipped around the pregnant woman, stopping besides her to place a hand on her shoulder while gripping her hand with the other. Then, the shinobi gently ushered the woman along at a steady pace that shouldn't cause damage to the unborn baby.

Glancing back, Daiki frowned; twisting around before dashing to Sukki, and Toph; failing to notice Sokka. First, seeing how the makeup-wearing warrior was about to be crushed soon, the shinobi grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her behind. Blinking as Sokka face planted, Dai bent down, latching onto the other teen's hand.

'Well. Should I leave behind Sokka to live another day and face Katara's wrath? Or be squashed under rocks along side with the dobe?' Clenching his teeth, eyes narrowed as rocks raced closer. Dai flinched when large, rough boulders followed by pain and death didn't come, looking up to see it was blocked.

Dai glared at the water-tribe boy half-heartedly, his lips tugged down slightly, nose scrunched up, eyebrows pulled slightly over his eyes. 'Yeah sure, check if the girl that was thrown away from the boulders is okay before thanking Toph for saving out sorry butts.' Brushing dust off navy pants, he glanced to the side to stare at the Earth Bender, "Thanks for the assistance…" Dai felt himself tense, "saving… me back there." With that, the tanned shinobi rushed after the advancing group after tugging Toph's hand slightly in thanks.

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><p>Dai stretched out his arms skywards before bending down to press his palms against the rough ground. He then stretched out either leg gently, enjoying the slight ache in his thighs before flopping down. 'I need to train more. I've been too laid back, not cautious enough. A refugee, I, and Sokka almost died back there.' He rolled off his scroll and unsealed it, opening it to find a kanji he didn't notice before 'Cleaning kit.' Dai pressed a chakra-filled finger to the characters, blowing away the smoke before opening the small box. His lips stretched into a warm smile, it was certainly Hanako's work. Grabbing the cloth, the Senju occupied himself with weapons.<p>

With a smile, he polished the blade, checked the chain links for rust, replaced the worn leather with the leather in the kit, replaced the iron ball on the chain end, and shined the metal carefully to keep rust away. Once down, Dai admired his work, thumb tracing the dragon that was carved delicately into the leather, 'I should buy Hanako more plant seeds, maybe an art supply kit with a couple of masks.'

"Dai, I have a question for you." Blinking away thoughts of Hanako, the shinobi glanced up at Katara shrugging his shoulders. "In Wong Shi-Tong's Library, you had wood burst out to attack Wong. But to bend, you need that element. Did you use wood from under the floor?" 'What should I tell her- wait I know. Can't exactly say it's a mix of two elements, and I don't want to say it's a sub-branch of earth only to fight alongside with her in a waterless place and not be able to 'wood bend.'' "Just like you said, using the wood bookcases underneath him, I was able to wood-bend and surprise him."

'That girl. I have to be _much_ more careful. Though, why should I hide the fact that I don't bend but do jutsu and is possibly from another world? It makes my life easier? Kind off… It sharpens my ability to lie? Yes. Keeps me on my toes? I guess so. Because the fire nation might start hunting me-maybe worse people? Defiantly.'

Once Katara left with a sort of pleased look, Dai began to pack up his stuff. 'I wonder how my team is. Is my mother okay? When will I go home? What time will it be?' Shaking his head, Dai stood up from his crouching position, 'Okay, Aang and Katara is off somewhere. Where are Sokka and Sukki? They are probably kissing if they aren't with Aang and Katara. Now…I should check for any chakra signatures.'

Sitting down in a crossed-legged position, Dai closed his eyes and quickly felt the chakra in himself, Toph, Sukki and Sokka [who were alone together], Aang and Katara, the three refugees [4 really], and the clumps in the atmosphere.

Stretching out his legs, hand covering his mouth, a yawn escaping as Dai opened his eyes to stare at the shimmering moon. 'I can't make a clone yet with so many people awake. And Toph will notice if another person suddenly appeared…' Laying down on his back, legs crossed, arms on his stomach, eyelids fluttering. 'I just have to trust-wait.' Slipping his hand into one of the pouches clipped to his belt; Dai's fingers wrapped around a kunai knife's hilt. 'There. First sound of trouble, its go time."

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><p>'This is really bad..' Dai held the hilt to the sickle in his right hand, the hilt to the iron ball in his left. The shinobi's eyes flickered from side to side as he shuffled at the back in front of Aang. 'If I were to attack, I would attack the person in the very back and slowly pick them off…' He let his eyes close for a brief moment, ignoring the multiple chakra signatures of the small fish plus Momo, only for unease to settle in his stomach at the <em>very large<em> one swimming to his right that circled around.

"That thing, is probably why this is called the Serpent's Pass…The something that makes people choose this route if they're really desperate…I'm guessing." Dai replied to Katara, body tense for the attack that was bound to happen-which did after his comment. Jumping back, Dai quickly sent a punch at the green body that slashed through the group's bubble. 'At least this thing doesn't have an iron body…' He thought to himself, digging his heels in as the ground beneath the shinobi jumped up and surfaced.

"Sukki! You know about giant sea monsters! Make it go away!" Sokka shouted at the warrior, "Just because I live by the-" "Let's stop arguing and try to stop this thing!" Dai snapped at Sukki and Sokka before throwing the sickle end at the creature's tounge. The creature quickly jerked away, digging the blade deeper, causing it to jerk harder and screech louder. "Crap…" Dai swore under his breath, sending chakra to his feet to anchor him to the floating piece of rock. Grabbing a part of the chain with his free hand, Dai jerked it upwards as Aang sent a torrent of air at the Sea monster, blasting it away and free from the sickle blade. "I'll distract it. Katara- get everyone across."

As the monster returned, it's maw stretched wide in another roar, Dai threw the blade end again. This time it curved in an arc to hopefully hit the serpent in the eye. Again it screeched in pain as the blade scratched right under the eye, only to be blasted away by Aang again.

Katara then leapt off the island, hands punching out to turn the water underneath into floating ice. Dai watched with a minuscule amount of fascination as the water-bender created a bridge of sleet, before rushing off on a mini-iceberg to fight alongside with Aang. Shaking his head, the shinobi dashed off after Sokka, sliding along gracefully. Stopping besides Sokka, he glanced over his shoulder at Toph who did a sideways shuffle.

"Look out!" Dai knocked away the ice shards that flew at his face, a ragged breath escaping him to see that Toph was saying- "Help! I can't swim!" 'Damn this Kami!' Dai rushed forwards and jumped into the water; ignoring Sokka's cries of "I'll help you!" diving deep before doing the dolphin. Kicking upwards, he broke water before propelling forwards with powerful kicks. With a quick breath, he dived down once more lifting the blind girl up by the armpits. Taking a deep breath, Dai leaned back, holding Toph against his chest. "You alright Top-""Oh Sokka! You saved me!" 'W-Wha…?'

Heat spread across Dai's face as Toph kissed him by the checks. 'Hanako is going to be mad if she ever found out…' "T-Toph. You shouted the w-wrong man's name." He mumbled to the girl, "Oh…Well…You can go ahead and let me drown now.""Its-Its fine, Toph." Dai twisted onto his side, a hand around Toph's waist and the other around her shoulders keeping the girl's head above water as he kicked to shore.

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><p>"There's the wall! Now there's nothing but smooth sailing till Ba Sing-Se." "Don't say that So-""Aaagh! Oh no!" Dai face palmed, slightly shaking his head, "The-""Sokka. If you remember, she's pregnant. I'm guessing the baby's coming." "What! Now! Can't you hold it in or something?" The shinobi laughed quietly at that, "Sokka, if she can hold it in, I don't think she would need to worry about getting to Ba Sing-Se before the baby comes." Shaking his head at the boy's reaction, Dai's face melted into another smile at a D-Rank mission he shared with his team.<p>

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><p>"Aww! Senpai! Why are we doing D-Ranks! We're totally ready for a C-Rank! I need to show Dai up!" 10 Year-old Kaede whined; white iris-free eyes shimmering, his black-bluish pony-tail that reached the small of his back swishing back and forth as the team walked.<p>

Dai eyed his rival; Kaede was going to get a haircut soon. The Hyuuga was wearing a blank white shirt with the sleeves reaching his elbows, black pants that reached his knees. The dobe had wrapped the cloth of his hitai-ate around his left shoulder, and had a fishnet sleeve on his right arm, and bandages wrapped around his left leg. Kaede also wore a beige bandana around his neck; a pouch of shuriken hanging on his belt on his right, and the standard shinobi boots.

"I think we should do this one. I-I mean babysitting can help us when we're older…" Hanako mumbled just loudly for the team to hear. The genjutsu user was wearing a light pink tunic, a green sash tied around his waist; the hitai-ate stitched onto the sash. She had two brown bangs framing her face, and the rest of her hair was in a braid that too reached her back. Under her tunic she wore purple shorts that reached her knees, fishnet leggings, and shin-protectors that started right under the shorts and ended just above her shinobi boot/sandals.

"I'm glad that you're being positive with this, Hanako." Inuzuka-senpai smiled, the purple fang tattoos on his checks particularly noticeable. He wore a dark navy blue shirt, and on top of that he wore a grey jacket outlined with fur. He wore black pants that reached his ankles with shinobi boots. In the hood that wasn't pulled up laid his puppy Naito who had her head on her master's shoulder. Naito had a dark black pelt, with white underfur, silver paws, a black tail-tip, yellow eyes that were currently closed, and a blotch of grey on her back. Besides Inuzuka-Senpai was his other dog, Dei. Dei was a tanned down with a white front left paw, white tail tip, a brown blotch on his side, back, front right eye, muzzle, and hind right leg, with brown eyes.

"What do you think Daiki?" He stared at the Junín, "If it helps the Hidden Leaf that is all that matters." Dai then stuck his left hand into the pockets of his navy black shorts that reached just above his knees. His right hand reached up, pulling up the collar of the black turtle neck shirt he wore so it reached just above his chin. The sleeves stopped right after his shoulders, and he wore fishnet sleeves that reached his wrists. Bandages covered his legs, and he wore shinobi sandal/boots. His black and white hair ended just by his ear, but the boy still had a white braid on his left. Before sticking his right hand into his pocket, Dai brushed the locks of black hair that covered about 50% of his right eye. On his left leg was a pouch of kunai, and on his right waist, hooked to his black leather belt was a pouch of shuriken. Hooked to his left side was a sickle.

"Humph! You're just a scaredy cat, Dai!" Kaede snapped at him, "Yeah, will he who insults another of being a coward is one who is scared of his own insecurities." Dai shot back, a smug smile on his face. "Excuses; excuses!" The Hyuuga boy cried, waggling a finger at Dai, "You just know my taijutsu it better than yours." Snorting, Dai shrugged his shoulders before retorting, "I don't really care that you're better at taijutsu then I am. I'm better at ninjutsu and bukijutsu" "Y-" "Guys! It doesn't matter!"

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><p>"Dai, mind keeping an eye out for anything hostile?" Dai glanced up from the memory, nodding absent minded. Walking towards the ledge, the shinobi sat down; his right leg swinging from side to side over the ledge, his brown eyes closed. 'Okay…There's Sokka's chakra… Aang's… Katara's… Toph's… The three refugee's… Sukki's…And a couple of animals. I don't sense the large serpent…'<p>

Cracking his eyes open slightly, Dai stared at his lap. 'I don't look much different from when I was younger; same with my abilities in some ways. I'm just bigger and slightly different clothes. I should train more…work harder on my earth style and water style.' Clenching a fist, 'I _need_ to step up my game! I could have been killed by those boulders or let Sokka die! But to do so…The Gaang might have to know about my capabilities…My home…Ugh. This is going to be a pain in the neck…and Sokka's head.'

Glancing up, Dai stared at the earth tent, 'I guess I'll go meet the baby.' Climbing to his feet, the shinobi squeezed around Aang to stare at the little baby. "She sounds healthy." Toph mumbled, "She's beautiful." Katara added, "It's so…squishy looking." Sokka added stupidly. "What should we name her?" "I want my daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something." Dai felt a pang hammering at his heart, 'Hopefully…This baby girl lives a carefree life with her entire family.' "I've been going through a really hard time lately… but you made me hopeful again." "I suggest Hope." He mumbled, "That's a perfect name. Hope." The father smiled, the mother nodding her head.

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><p>Trotting to the Gaang, the shinobi patted Aang, "Appa is out there waiting for you. He trusts you and puts hope in you that you will find him. That is why you have to put your hope and trust in yourself, Appa, and others. Like a friend of mine says, 'what you believe happens.'" Dai smiled, not a smirk or a fake smile, 'And a bonus with her gifts I'm getting her…I'm telling her she's the smartest of the team and I have the biggest ego-that should make her smile. Oh, and make her swear she will never tell Kaede.' "You ready Momo?" He stared at the flying shape of the avatar, eyes narrowed in caution before returning to the ledge. Flopping down, Dai pulled his leg up, setting his chin on his knee as he stared at the waters bellow. "I don't think Kaede will ever want a child after that D-Rank mission…" He mumbled with a bitter smile.<p>

_Author's Note:_

_I can't believe I'm a week late! I just got so caught up playing Ni No Kuni and Fire Emblem…But that's no excuse! I'm very sorry about it! And I know that Sukki saved Toph, but…I couldn't help, seeing how Dai is secretly mushy. Like a giant killer teddy-bear ninja. *shot* Anyways, thank you for the reviews and follows; it really helps to know that people actually read this! Oh, and if you have a play station 3, I urge you to at least look up Ni No Kuni._

_-Tsukiko104598Daiki_

_**Naito **__– Night in Japanese_

_**Dei**__ – Day in Japanese_

_**Daiki**__ – A male name; means "Large, great" "tree" or "valuable, noble" [in this case Great Tree] [Named for his clan's Kekkei Genkai; in remembrance of his father]_

_**Senju**__ – One of the founding clans of Konoha known for their wood release_

_**Hanako**__ – A female name; means "Flower" and "Child [Named for Hanako's delicate state when she was born (weak; thought to die)]_

_**Kurama**__ – One of the clans of Konoha, known for their genjutsu_

_**Kaede**__ – A male or female name; means "Maple" [Named for the maple leaves that fell outside the hospital room when Kaede was born]_

_**Hyuuga**__ – A large clan from Konoha known for their taijutsu style "Gentle Fist" and their doujutsu the Byakugan [Moon Eye]_

_**Inuzuka**__ – A large clan from Konoha known for their dog familiars they use in battle_

_**Konoha**__ – One of the 5 great ninja villages; lead by the Hokage_

**_Hokage_**_- Fire Shadow; one of the five kages_

_**Shinobi**__ – A male ninja_

_**D-Rank Missions**__ – The lowest rank for a ninja job/mission; mostly chunin and genin take this mission_

_**Jounín**__ – Elite ninja_

**_Kami - _**_a god from the Naruto universe [correct me in the reviews if I am wrong]_

**_Bukijutsu_**_- Art of using weapons [swords, daggers, bombs, sickles, ect.]_

**_Taijutsu_**_- Marital arts_

**_Ninjutsu_**_ - Ninja arts_

**_Kinjutsu_**_- Forbidden jutsu_


End file.
